ExplorationRachael driskell 2b mr.meninga

COLUMBUS DISCOVERS AMERICA

CAUSES: There were three main causes for Columbus discovering the Americas: shortcuts, incorrect maps, and money. In 1492, Christopher Columbus believed that he had found a shortcut to reach the spice islands. He based this theory off of a map of the world that was created by Marco Polo. But, since Marco Polo was known for exaggerating his work, he had actually exaggerated the size of Asia which threw off Columbus' calculations completely. Yet, even with Columbus' huge miscalculations, Spain still agreed to finance his voyage and send him on his way to the New World. Spain agreed to this because spices were so valuable that if Columbus was successful, the country would become extremely wealthy very fast.

EFFECTS: After Columbus reached land, his presence had instant effects. First of all, he believed that he was in the East Indies and he began to call the native people "Indians"; a term we still use today. Also, the native people were not used to the foreign diseases and germs that Columbus brought with him. This led to the deaths of hundreds of Indians. The exchange of diseases, food, culture, plants, animals, and technology is known as the Columbian Exchange; this is the third effect of Columbus discovering the new world. As the men from the new world interacted with the Indian lifestyles, both parties adapted different tools and ways of life that were helpful (and sometimes harmful) to their culture.

SPANISH INVADE THE INCA AND WIN

CAUSES: The Spanish were able to take over the Inca (who heavily out-numbered them) fairly easily due to three main causes: weapons, horses, and the element of surprise. First of all, due to the location of Spain, the Spaniards had the ability to acquire steel tools. The Europeans were located along the fertile crescent, where metal work originated, while the Inca were still stuck using stone tools. Not only did the Spanish have the rapier under their belts, but they also brought guns with them which struck the Inca with surprise and fear. Next, the Spanish also had horses that were trained to bite, trample, and kick down enemies. The Inca could hardly stand a chance of battling people that rode three feet off the ground above them. But finally, to top off the perfect attack, the Spaniards chose to attack when the Inca people were completely unprepared for a battle to take place. As the Inca broke ranks and ran frantically, they became even easier targets and were quickly defeated.

EFFECTS: After the attack, a chain of events soon took place. Three main effects were: the loss of the Inca leader, hundreds of Inca people were murdered, and diseases spread rapidly. In the chaos of the surprise attack on the Inca, their leader was also able to be captured and held hostage. With no leader, thousands dead, and a new group of people in charge, the Inca Empire soon fell. Also, as the Spanish arrived in the new land, they brought with them their native diseases. One devastating disease that they brought was smallpox. It is estimated that between 50-90 percent of the native population was effected by this disease. All three of these causes created the perfect conditions for the Inca Empire to slowly decline and eventually disappear.

LABOR IN THE NEW WORLD

CAUSES: The reasons that labor was introduced into the new world were that they new settlers had an overwhelming amount of land to take care of, they didn't have much money to spend, and the settlers had to provide money back to the mother country. As the Europeans began to settle in the New World, they were soon overwhelmed by how much land they had to farm and take care of. There was a high demand for laborers and an even higher need for cheap ones. The reason that labor and money was so needed, was because the new settlers were working solely to send money back to the mother land. The colonies were not looking to make money for themselves, but actually to meet the request that their home country had asked of the settlers; this is known as mercantilism. Finally, labor in the new world was necessary because the settlers were looking to quickly expand and create a successfully functioning civilization.

EFFECTS: In order to meet the needs for such a high labor demand, slaves had to be imported into the new world. These slaves carried diseases and sicknesses that were foreign to the immune systems of the natives. This brings us to the second effect of labor in the new world: natives were wiped out by diseases. Since their immune systems had not adapted to African sickness and diseases, the natives were completely destroyed from sicknesses. Finally, since so many slaves were imported into the new world, the Caribbean is dominantly populated by Africans to this day.

Triangular Trade Route

CAUSES: The triangular trade route was a means of transportation of goods between three countriese. The causes for this route was that large amounts of goods needed to be shipped, these products needed to be shipped efficiently, and each country was looking to make the maximum amount of profit possible. First of all, each country had a different supply and demand that only its competitors could supply. For this reason, each country was shipping its supplies out in bulk while retrieving other products to bring back to the mother country. These items could include crops, metals, sugar, and even slaves. Since the cargo on these ships was so valuable, there needed to be a way to get to the trading countries directly; this led to the development of the triangular trade. Finally, the triangular trade was so successful because no boat ever sailed empty. This is due to how the goods were exchanged between coming and going from each shore.

EFFECTS: In order to meet all of the needs of each country, a route was established between Africa, Europe, and the Americas. After this route was created, three main effects occurred: the "Middle Passage", wealth was gained, and the prices of goods were changed. First, a new route developed called the "Middle Passage." The Middle Passage was a route from Africa to the Americas that was used only for the transportation of slaves. This easy access to slaves created a huge rise in human trafficking people into the Americas like cattle. Finally, since the trade route was so efficient, the three countries began to gain quite a bit of wealth and they soon began to change the price of their goods to make even more profits. Since the demand was so high for the imported goods, each country had the ability to choose to sell their products for whatever amount they wanted without suffering inflation.